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Currently fond of The Queen Regent, thugs/traps MM.

In the same way "dam" is a dirty word to a five year old. People with small, underdeveloped brains and limited real world experience don't like it. They will complain about knockback on teams that are steamrolling with zero deaths. It's reflexive. It's not based on anything. They might have some anecdote or something about a bad player and mistakenly assign blame to the powerset. Knockback complainers are like Karens. They're probably playing weak characters. They have poor social skills and they aren't very self aware. Ignore them. Play inspired.

Sol Ring, My Psionic/Fire Tank. I wanted to give them a kind of Ziggy Stardust vibe and I may have listened to more than a little "Starman" as Ievelled to 50.

OK. It's time to Throw The Cat Amongst The Pigeons. Like most of us, I've played all the ATs. A LOT. And I like to think that I have a fairly solid grasp of CoX gameplay and most of its complex underlying mechanics (including those pesky IOs). But there are some RATHER GLARING (to me anyway) balance issues and performance problems and even a few sheer "WTF that's utterly overpowered/pointless!" things that spring to mind whenever I consider each AT and how its Inherent and its available ATOs improve (or clash with) that AT's typical role and/or playstyle. So I'm going to list what *I* think the state of each AT is, currently, and what *I* think could/should be done to improve matters. ... But before I get into it: (i) I realise a lot of people might disagree with some/most/all of my thoughts here; however I suspect that at least certain bits of what I highlight below may get a few people nodding... and I think that having a discussion about overall AT balance that doesn't focus on one particular aspect (like Blaster Nukes) or one particular powerset (like Super Strength) might be beneficial. This is more of an "Invitation for discussion and/or telling @Maelwys how wrong he is"; hence my putting it here in General instead of in the Suggestions subforum. (ii) I appreciate that some powersets could really do with being rebalanced (like Kinetic Melee) and/or are better on one AT than others (like Staff Melee). That's a discussion for another thread. (iii) ... Now, with that out of the way; here comes the flame-fodder: - [BLASTER] - Inherent: Defiance (Short-duration stacking damage buff for every power activated; T1/T2 attack from the primary and T1 attack from the secondary can be used whilst mezzed) ATO1: Blaster's Wrath (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Defiant Barrage (PPM stackable low-mag mez protection) Summary: IMO this AT is in a good place. The Inherent and ATOs notably raise its damage output and also help to reduce the impact of hostile CC effects without completely negating those effects. The ATO2 is "skippable" at endgame (due to Clarion Destiny) but otherwise can be particularly useful if slotted into one of the T1/T2 powers, so that they can be triggered whilst the Blaster is mezzed... however it only grants Mag1 protection per stack and the stacks expire fairly quickly. Also since the T1/T2 powers have a fast base recharge time, lower-PPM procs have a very low likelihood of activating in them. Recommendations: Increase the duration of each stack of the ATO2 proc (from ~10s to ~20s) and/or substantially raise its PPM chance. - [CONTROLLER] - Inherent: Containment (deal double-damage to enemies that are held/stunned/immobilized/feared; or that have been slept within the last 3 seconds) ATO1: Will of the Controller (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Overpowering Essence (PPM chance to summon a very short-duration pet with a PBAoE damage aura) Summary: IMO this AT has gotten substantially better recently (after i28p2's changes to allow Fear and Sleep effects to set up Containment) but their ATO2 is bad. Just like Dominator's "Fiery Orb" ATO2; the Controller ATO2's "Energy Font" pet spawns at your location (not your target's), has a slow movement speed and is extremely fragile. Therefore unless you're already within melee range of multiple foes it can take several seconds (of its 20s maximum duration) to actually start dealing any damage and it is very prone to getting one-shot. Recommendations: Tweak the ATO2 "Energy Font" pet to be immune to damage ("untouchable") and increase its movement speed. - [DEFENDER] - Inherent: Vigilance (30% Damage buff when solo, reduces by 10% per teammate. Endurance Cost Reduction when teammate HP bars are low) ATO1: Defender's Bastion (PPM PBAoE Heal) ATO2: Vigilant Assault (PPM PBAoE Absorb) Summary: The ATOs both add a useful non-damage-oriented effect; although their ATO1 is slightly overshadowed by the Corruptor ATO2 (which also grants some +Endurance in addition to +Health). Vigilance is a useful inherent whilst solo; however its effect whilst teamed is downright pathetic - essentially when teamed with at least 3 people it has no appreciable benefit unless the team is constantly sitting with less-than-full HP bars. Recommendations: Add +Recovery/Endurance to Defender's Bastion. Rework Vigilance's effect to let Defenders keep a little more of their current damage buff on medium-sized teams; and on larger teams have the endurance always apply instead of being HP-bar dependant (as the current implementation rewards Defenders that reactively heal and punishes those that preemptively buff). My suggestion would be to leave the solo damage buff at +30%; then for each teammate reduce that damage buff by 5% whilst adding a flat 10% Endurance Cost Reduction... capping out at 0% damage and +60% Endurance Cost Reduction on a full team. - [SCRAPPER] - Inherent: Critical Hit (5% chance to deal extra damage vs a Minion/Underling; 10% chance vs anything else. This is usually but not always double the attack's base damage; and unlike Stalkers there is no additional penalty for AoEs) ATO1: Scrapper's Strike (Global Critical Hit rate buff) ATO2: Critical Strikes (PPM chance to add +50% Critical Hit rate for a short duration) Summary: Scrapper damage is "spikey" by design. If the dice fall in your favour then you can get a constant string of critical hits; and the ATOs help make this more likely. However their ATO2 proc is very likely the most complicated thing in the game to "optimize". The buff window is short but doesn't cancel after the first hit; so a min-maxed Scrapper has to work out how to make that buff window appear frequently and also how to cram as many high-damage, low-activation time attacks into that window as possible. Animation Time Before Effect values; Arcanatime roundups; which attacks gain full benefit from Critical hits and which don't (including 'additional damage' combo effects and DoTs). It very much rewards detailed knowledge of the game mechanics and basic math skills; but unfortunately it means that the performance disparity between an "optimized" and an "unoptimized" Scrapper is like night and day. Recommendations: Make the ATO2 proc effect far less complicated; without overly reducing the AT's achievable average damage. My suggestion would be to have the ATO2 buff simply cancel after the first hit; and then increase the Scrapper inherent BASE Critical Hit chance by a small amount (e.g. 5%) to compensate. The goal here is to lower the current drastic performance disparity between an endgame Scrapper being piloted by a regular Scrapperlocking button masher; and that same Scrapper being piloted by someone with OCD and a spreadsheet. - [TANKER] - Inherent: Gauntlet (AoE Taunt effect when attacking targets. AoEs have a larger radius and can hit additional targets) ATO1: Might of the Tanker (PPM stackable Damage Resistance buff) ATO2: Gauntleted Fist (PPM Absorb) Summary: The Tanker ATOs are, IMO, both in a good place even though neither ATO increases Tanker damage output. The ATO1 proc in particular is very effective. However Gauntlet is IMO a bit lacking. The recent changes in i28p2 drastically decreased Tanker AoE damage potential - Cones are no longer wider/longer and cannot hit more targets; AoEs are still a bit wider and can hit more targets but in practice the overall damage output of a Tanker vs 16 targets is now less than a Brute hitting 10 targets. The Developers have stated an intention for the Tankers to be "AoE Specialists" amongst the melee ATs but currently they deal less AoE damage than the others; so the most they're able to do is tag a few extra enemies with a "Taunt" effect. Recommendations: Recent i28p2 adjustments have reduced Tanker AoE damage without notably reducing their Single Target damage. However the Devs have stated a design intent that Tankers should be "AoE specialists among the melee ATs". If "AoE specialists" is intended to refer to "damage output" then IMO their 'overcap' damage reduction should be lowered a bit (so that damage on additional targets is reduced by at most -50% instead of -66%) in order that a Tanker will deal a little bit more damage vs 16 targets than a Brute does vs 10 targets. If it is instead intended to refer to "aggro control" then IMO there should be an increase to the duration of Gauntlet's AoE Taunt effect and/or the Tanker aggro cap (say ~24 instead of 17) in order to allow Tankers to quickly claim aggro over a Brute and/or maintain aggro control on more enemies. In addition; I would also suggest taking another look at Tanker Cone attacks. A number of Tanker powersets have multiple Cones and fewer pure AoEs - so IMO allowing cones to be widened by the Tanker Gauntlet once more (even if it's just "up to a certain arc size"; like ~120-180 degrees) and keeping their base damage the same as it is currently may make sense (perhaps their target cap could also be increased and appropriate "overcap" damage reductions introduced as well; but even just having Cones gain any benefit at all from the "Tankers are AoE specialists" notion would IMO be appreciated here!). Finally... IMO there is also an issue with Brutes and Tankers both currently occupying (and constantly clashing with each other over) the same "niche" on teams, which I'll cover in the Brute section below. - [BRUTE] - Inherent: Fury (stacking damage buff; effectively maxes out at roughly 85 Fury which is a +170% damage buff. Single Target Taunt effect when attacking targets) ATO1: Brute's Fury (PPM increased Fury generation) ATO2: Unrelenting Fury (PPM stackable increased Regeneration and Recovery for a short duration) Summary: The Brute Inherent is in a good place. However both their ATOs are total rubbish and a complete waste of an enhancement slot - chasing the Set Bonuses is IMO the only reason to use either of them. Fury generation is already fast and caps out at ~85 regardless of the ATO1 proc; and the +regeneration/recovery granted by the ATO2 proc when the stacks are maxed out provides less benefit than a Panacea Proc in Health. In practice Brutes are one of the "best" ATs whilst levelling up; especially whilst the player is short of enhancement slots, because Fury reduces the need to prioritise slotting their attacks for damage aspect. However after IOs they become overtaken by Scrappers in terms of damage output (and DRASTICALLY overtaken in the case of an optimized ATO2-using Scrapper). Survivabilitywise Brutes sit in a "sweet spot" between a Scrapper and a Tanker. Due to their inherent Taunt effect they are also almost as good as a Tanker at aggro control; and currently due to Tanker's recently nerfed AoE damage output (see: i28p2) they have begun to become the most popular endgame Tanking AT. Unfortunately a lack of clear Developer Intent makes it very tricky to propose a solid balance for Tankers, Scrappers and Brutes. In practice; providing that aggro control is sufficient, whichever of these three ATs can inflict the most damage is always going to be the optimal choice for filling an endgame Tanking role. (Disclaimer: whilst all Scrappers have access to "Confront" and some have Taunt Auras... traditionally it is very unusual in CoX for a Scrapper to fulfil a team "Main Tank" role. At most they might situationally hold the aggro of an AV or "off tank". However I am aware of a few cases, including in 4-star "hard mode" runs, where a Scrapper Tank is now seen as the preferred option because they can contribute substantially more on-demand damage than a Brute whilst maintaining a sufficient level of aggro control for that particular scenario!) IMO Brutes need a Niche on a team that doesn't simply boil down to "keeping aggro whilst dealing damage". Because sometimes the damage a Brute deals will be higher than a Tanker; and sometimes it'll be the other way around (depending on whether Tankers have been buffed or not recently!). CoX having two melee ATs that are effectively both continually competing for exactly the same niche on a team is less than ideal. Tankers having better Survivability than Brutes is mostly irrelevant on mature teams; so unfortunately that's often a non-factor. Recommendations: Overhaul both Brute ATOs to allow each to provide a mechanically worthwhile boost. And give Brutes a better niche on teams so that Brutes and Tankers are not always competing over the same role of "Survivable Aggro Magnet that deals the most raw damage". I've suggested a few ideas for this niche separation previously - letting Tankers hold the attention of more mobs (via an increased aggro cap); giving Brutes an ATO which grants a PBAoE damage buff based on their current Fury; etc. however the exact shape/form it might take doesn't overly matter. The main thing IMO is that something definitely needs to stop the current situation where as soon as Brute or Tanker damage overtakes the other (due to AT buffs or nerfs) that AT becomes "always the best choice" on teams and the other AT effectively gets dustbinned. - [CORRUPTOR] - Inherent: Scourge (scaling chance to inflict double damage once the target's current HP drops below 50%) ATO1: Malice of the Corruptor (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Scourging Blast (PPM PBAoE Heal and Endurance) Summary: IMO the Corruptor ATOs are in a good place; and Scourge can potentially be a very powerful inherent. However it often drastically favours fast-cycling lower-damage-per-hit powers (especially "Rains", which perform multiple "checks" of the target's current HP over the course of their duration and so begin benefitting from Scourge as soon as it drops below the 50% threshold) over single-hit-high-damage powers like traditional AoEs and Nukes (which only check the target's HP once; and in practice typically trigger before the target has taken any noteworthy damage at all). This means specific powersets (Ice Blast, Fire Blast, Water Blast) tend to benefit from Scourge more than others. Recommendations: Realistically Corruptors are one of the most powerful classes so I'd be loathe to buff them; but PERHAPS it'd make sense to alter the Scourge chances for non-rain AoEs so that they gain a small % chance to inflict Scourge regardless of the target's current HP; or maybe even scale it based on the number of teammates. In order that Ice Blast Corruptors aren't always the automatic Gold Medalists. - [DOMINATOR] - Inherent: Domination (long recharge Clicky buff that refills your endurance bar, provides mez protection and grants additional CC effects for 90s, and a ToHit buff for 15s) ATO1: Ascendency of the Dominator (PPM stackable Damage Buff) ATO2: Dominating Grasp (PPM chance to summon a very short-duration pet with a PBAoE damage aura) Summary: IMO this AT's inherent is amazingly good (it's a very rare Dominator player who doesn't strive for enough Global Recharge to make Domination permanent) and their ATO1 is decent (if a bit attack chain dependant); however their ATO2 is very bad. Just like the Controller's "Energy Font" ATO2; the Dominator ATO2 "Fiery Orb" pet spawns at your location (not your target's), has a slow movement speed and is extremely fragile. Therefore unless you're already within melee range of multiple foes it can take several seconds (of its 20s maximum duration) to actually start dealing any damage and it is very prone to getting one-shot. Recommendations: Tweak the ATO2 "Fiery Orb" pet to be immune to damage ("untouchable") and increase its movement speed. - [MASTERMIND] - Inherent: Supremacy (PBAoE Damage and ToHit buff for Henchmen. Mastermind Henchmen can be issued orders and when in "Defensive Follow" or "Defensive GoTo" mode, a portion of any damage inflicted on their master will be redirected to each henchman) ATO1: Command of the Mastermind (Global PBAoE buff to "AoE" Defense for henchmen) ATO2: Mark of Supremacy (Global PBAoE buff to Damage Resistance and regeneration rate for henchmen) Summary: IMO this AT is in a very, very good place. Whilst I personally do not like taking the ATO1 global (I prefer focusing on all positional defences rather than just one) it definitely has a place on many builds. The only "generic" issue I have is that the T1 and T2 pets spawning at lower-levels compared to the MM themselves means that the Purple Patch hits them very hard whenever you're fighting enemies higher than +3 to you. Recommendations: Allow the T1 and T2 henchmen to spawn at even-level to the MM themselves in all content. The base damage of their powers could be reduced by ~20% and ~10% to compensate if required, but realistically these pets already spawn at even-level to the MM in Incarnate content, so it's likely that just leaving their damage scalars as-is will not overly upset things. (Some specific Primary powersets could also do with a balance pass; but that's beyond the scope of this thread!) - [STALKER] - Inherent: Assassination (When "hidden" - Critical Strike 100% activation for Single target attacks and 50% for most Cones and AoEs. When NOT hidden; 10% base Critical rate plus 3% for each party member. Primary powerset attacks also grant "Assassin Focus" stacks which drastically increase the Critical hit rate of Assassin's Strike; becoming guaranteed with 3 stacks) ATO1: Stalker's Guile (PPM chance to enter "hidden" state. Can activate at most once every 10 seconds) ATO2: Assassin's Mark (Global that gives most attacks a chance to make the "Build Up" power recharge) Summary: Stalkers are IMO in a rather good place. Their Assassination inherent looks complex but in practice works well to boost their damage beyond the first whack from a hidden state (especially whilst teamed). Their critical chance is reduced for AoEs and Stalkers in general also have less AoE abilities and Cones available to them; so they tend to be better at Single Target Damage - IMO combined with the Stealth and Placate mechanics it makes their playstyle sufficiently unique that Scrappers and Stalkers are both valuable to a team without always stepping on each other's toes. Their ATO2 is powerful and does not require any complex calculations or build tweaks. Their ATO1 is powerful but has an annoying lockout period that means you really need to plan the duration of your attack chain cycle to get the most out of it. Recommendations: Lose the 10s lockout period on the ATO1 proc; in order to reduce the need for a "perfect" attack chain cycle. - [SENTINEL] - Inherent: Opportunity (Slight resistance to ToHit and Perception debuffs. Bar builds up over time and when >50% full "Vulnerability" can be triggered, which inflicts a large damage resistance debuff, defense debuff, status effect resistance debuff and stealth debuff for 15s) ATO1: Sentinel's Ward (PPM Absorb) ATO2: Opportunity Strikes (PPM increased Opportunity generation) Summary: Sentinels have come a long way since their original implementation; and their inherent is now decent; but their ATOs are not. Recommendations: Change the ATO1 to work off your current "maximum HP" rather than be a flat value; and raise its activation chance (the Tanker ATO2 is very similar but uses MaxHP and is a substantially higher PPM). The ATO2 should either have its increased Opportunity generation value drastically raised or become a Global (can be triggered by all attacks) rather than a PPM (can be triggered only by the attack it's slotted in) so that is is less dependant on specific power placement and/or attack chain cycles. - [PEACEBRINGER / WARSHADE] - Inherent: Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance (Buffs to Damage, Damage Resistance, CC protection and recharge debuff resistance based on the Archetypes of their teammates) ATO1: Kheldian's Grace (Global that applies a short-duration buff to damage when in Nova Form, damage resistance when in Human Form; and MaxHP when in Dwarf Form) ATO2: Essence Transfer (Global that grants most attacks a flat 18% chance to heal you) Summary: Kheldians are broken. There is a well-known exploit (which tends to be referred to as "Changeling") that lets them drop out of one form into another and trigger a new attack before the previous attack finishes animating. However WITHOUT leveraging that exploit; their damage output can IMO be generously described as "mediocre". Many players do not enjoy taking all (or even any) of the additional non-human forms; and so will not gain the full benefit from their ATO1. The Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance inherents can be powerful but unfortunately both require a specific (and different!) team composition to really shine. Recommendations: Rework Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance so that it is less dependent (or not at all dependent) on specific team compositions. Prevent the "Changeling" exploit (my suggestion would be to prevent shifting out and then back into the same form immediately - a lockout period of ~5 seconds before being able to reuse the same form should do it!) whilst at the same time adjusting the AT's damage scalars upwards in all forms (particularly Human) and reviewing some of the animation times (e.g. Incandescent Strike; which is effectively Total Focus with a 24% longer cast time) - these ATs should IMO cap out at very roughly the same average damage ballpark as a Brute. Allow Epic and Patron Pools. Amend the ATO1 so that if Dwarf Form and/or Nova form are not taken then a smaller bonus is granted to the other form(s). - [ARACHNOS SOLDIER / WIDOW] - Inherent: Conditioning (Regeneration and Recovery bonus - this is baked into the AT's base attributes and it's a flat +5% to each.) ATO1: Dominion of Arachnos (PPM Terrorize and Damage debuff) ATO2: Spider's Bite (Global that grants most attacks a flat 12% chance for additional Toxic damage) Summary: VEATs are very powerful; particularly since the changes to Fortuna and Night Widow Lv1 powers in i27p7. Whilst their Inherents aren't mechanically striking; they do slightly increase overall sustainability (VEATs tend to gobble endurance) and their various specialization trees each provide Lv1 Auto abilities that are effectively more powerful inherents ('Fate Sealed', 'Pain Tolerance' and the Bane and Wolf spider 'Armor Upgrades'). Their ATO2 is EXTREMELY good. The ATO1 provides a useful damage debuff; although the Terrorize only affects minions. Recommendations: IMO not much is needed here. Perhaps tweak the ATO1 proc so that it effects Lieutenants out of the box (Mag3 rather than Mag2) or so that it can stack with itself rather than overwriting. And MAYBE buff the "Conditioning" inherent slightly so that it provides a larger boost to Regeneration/Recovery (+10% base rather than +5%; for example). I would also quite like to see them being given access to Epic Pools - having only Patron Pools might be thematic; but more choice is always good. Really though the main thing is that I think they need some kind of Recovery/Endurance buff to be available to them (likely via their Inherent or Epic Pools) in order that optimized VEATs (especially Widows!) don't need to rely so hard on Ageless Destiny. "Crabberminds" not having control over their pets is IMO a feature, not a problem! (Heh-heh-heh-hee-hee-hee-heh-heh-heh-heh...)

Below is a rough idea I had for a Clones power set for Masterminds, the best part is no need to create new meshes or textures! Clones: Phantom Jab* (causes a phantom of yourself to appear in front of and attack the target once then disappear) Damage: Light Recharge: Very Fast Doppelgangers** (3 minion/ pet power. Unempowered clones deliver punches to target) Phantom Uppercut* (causes a phantom of yourself to appear in front of and attack the target once then disappear) Damage: Moderate Recharge: Fast Empower Clones*** (Enhance all permanent clones with Fire, Ice, Electric, Energy, Dark, or Radiation attacks or a random mix, please note once a summoned clone is enhanced their element cannot be Switched) Recharge: Fast Phantom Barrage* (three phantoms surround the target punching and kicking it) Damage: Heavy Recharge: Slow Copies** (2 minion/ Pet power. Unempowered clones have Jabs and Punches) Phantom Army* (Works like current illusion set phantom army except visually you don't have the "classic" phantom army look just the mirror self ones) Perfect Clone** (Single minion/ pet power Unempowered clone physically assaults enemy with Jabs, Punches and right/left hooks) Fortify Clones (Gives clones first two defensive abilities that align with their element; Unempowered clones get super reflexes) Recharge: Moderate *Phantom abilities are not effected by Empower Clones or Fortify Clones ** Unenhanced Clones use the basic punch ability and Street Justice attacks from the First three levels: Initial Strike - All three Clone types Heavy Blow - Copies & Perfect Clone Sweeping Cross - Perfect Clone only *** The three street justice attacks are replaced with same tier melee attacks of the element of the Clone

Never stop improving... err, evolving? Eeleanor's latest "evolution":

Agent 5 - Energy Melee / Shield Defense Level 50 Level 9-18 - An Agent Level 1 - Normal dude

Madame Brigitte was a former Skull who decided to **really** get into Necromancy, and outgrew her old buddies, but also grew in her humanity by understanding death better. Oddly enough. Necro/Dark MM.

This is Killtrace, a Punisher expy that had it bad for the Marcone enough that they went rogue (DP/Ninja/Ninja Sentinel):

I'll leave this here, my favorite blaster, Echo Black, a disillusioned former member of Vanguard (Beam/Devices/Arsenal Blaster):

Can Project Will and Weaken Resolve get merged into one power? maybe bump its damage up a bit to make it worthwhile in combat? And the new power will be a toggle +resist and jump height. specifically jump height and not speed. Maybe add some resist all to Unleash Potential

I've suggested in the past, and will again here, that we should have a new incarnate alpha or interface power that has a core side that increases knockback and a radial side that decreases it. Add on whatever other goodies that makes it an attractive choice like +damage, proc damage, endurance, or valuable debuff. You could even tie extra KB to extra damage! The higher up the tree the stronger the KB and the +damage or proc damage also increases. The radial side wouldn't get the extra damage, but would get something else like extra endurance or debuffs. Then the pro KB could add more, the -KB could eliminate it, and everyone could craft one of each to switch back and forth as desired.

What you said: wall of text what the devs heard: buff Tanks

And Dr. Orchid is my typical Crey Scientist doing things Man Was Not Meant to Do...in this case, infecting herself with an alien plant spore. Thee results were Plant/Nature controller, naturally! Ahem. Naturally... >_>

Kamuro, the fireworks-firing ninja. Pyrotechnics/Martial Assault Dominator

Scree, the Goblin. Mind/Earth Dominator

Poluzhizhn', the living reactor. Radiation Melee/Electric Armor stalker

We do have an Announcements section. I moved this thread there to prove it. Also:

Terrorporter, Savage/Dark brute

Rad/Rad Scrapper American Nightmare

I have suggested before, and I guess am doing so again, one simple solution. There are times where a team will encounter a “small map” on every kill all in Synapse. This has a HUGE difference in TF length. Same merits. My suggestion is to hard code the TF for these small maps. Just remove the random factor and pick the smallest map of the normal choices. Suddenly the Synapse is not a slogathon.

I'm so peeing on your statue.

More than a loose cannon, she's a "Hare Razor":

And Chronicity, my Time/Rad Defendr, an expy of Sinestro in the Phobos Corps, complete with a power ring keyed to fear as energy.

And this is Brianna Fury, my Rad/Rad Tanker, the brick of the team.

The fact that knock back still exists and isn't auto turned to knockdown for every power for every at is proof that powers team despises melee player. Nothing in this game is as disruptive to players as bad knock back is to melee players. And the number of bad knock back to good knock back I've experienced on HC severs is astronomically in favor of bad knock back. The closest thing to disrupt gameplay to ranged players the way knock back does to melee (and also interferes with other ranged, just not as bad) are these phase fields they make enemies unmatchable unless you enter the field. But as far as I know there are two of those they're often skipped, and they're on longer CDs so can't be hot with every group. Meanwhile a bad knock acksr can disrupt every single group of mobs for every melee on the team , for every mission of a TF. And some people are here arguing in favor of one player being able to disrupt the entire play style of up to 7 other team mates?

I agree with you on a lot of topics, but I can't get behind this. When Jab, Punch, Haymaker do less damage than Boxing, Kick, Crosspunch, AND, Jab Punch, Haymaker, plus Rage, do less damage than Boxing, Kick, Crosspunch plus Rage, there's a problem. You are objectively worse off investing more in your primary attacks vs a power pool.

Syzygy, the human waveform. Dark/Sonic Blaster

Inv/SS tanker, but once you get Unyielding you are not allow to move while it is active. You have to toggle it on and off to move until you get to level 14 where you then are allowed to take teleport to finally move yourself around.

A crazy thought but... has anyone considered that other people playing things you may not like, powersets you don't like, or sets in ways you don't like is a part of the game?

Locked by request of OP. But if you haven't already please /petition in game or via forums here (https://forums.homecomingservers.com/support/). Please include dates, times, names, servers and as much information as you can to help us help you.

All this thread has done is make me want to roll a version of my first toon/first 50 from live back in 07/04. A Eng/Fire (terrible synergy, I know...now) blaster. It was fun and I made every mistake possible on that toon but I loved the graphics. Then go completely HAM and slot everything for KB. Screw the haters!😜

Knockback is always welcome on my teams.

It's deader than @Snarky and a lot less entertaining

"My very limited personal experience serves as such evidence as to be irrefutable and undeniable and is thus beyond contest."

A new one from me, along with the back story because I thought this one was cute/ humorous

My suggestion is to use Knockback with impunity and if someone says something reply, "Are we running missions or are we farming?"

Any repel haters? Go on, melee my mobs 😎

Bad Players are bad. Bad Players plus knockback powers consistently result in ongoing annoyance to other players (who may or may not also be Bad). AFAIK it's the only power secondary effect that can be actively harmful. The only other abilities I've ever seen generate more annoyance than a badly utilized AoE Knockback ability is a badly utilized "Phase Shift" power like Sonic Cage... and at least then the bad (very bad! no cookies for you!) player is leveraging that ability's primary effect! The first toon I played that had substantial Knockback was a Peacebringer; back in issue 7 or so. In those days we didn't have any KB>KD IOs and you had to learn "good positioning" - flying above things so that they ragdoll into the floor instead of away from the tank; rotating around the combat encounter using unsuppressed movement to knock things inwards instead of outwards, etc. etc. I'm keenly aware that it's certainly possible to use KB-laden abilities without setting the rest of the team's heads on fire with sheer rage. And I appreciate the addition of individual KB>KD IOs... but I still get annoyed by the notion that players can't just choose to globally convert their own KB into KD without paying an "enhancement tax" in every power. As @Ukase mentions; many builds unfortunately just don't have that much slotting leeway. Meh.

Any arc that involves handing anything over to M.A.G.I. for "safe keeping". They might as well install a big revolving door in their vault with Azuria stood outside hawking tickets. 🙄

The Wild Huntsman, personification of myth. Beasts/Cold MM.

I don't think you understand the farmer/door-sitter connection. They are never going to stop using /lfg

KB is the reason I can't bring myself to play Energy Blast. 😔

^^ Case in point! 🙈 We could flip that around: "Knockback lovers have small, underdeveloped frontal lobes. They love imposing their sub-standard playstyle choices on others and especially enjoy trolling teams that were previously blissfully steamrolling through content without having their targets unceremoniously punted away from their melee attacks, PBAoEs and debuff patches." 😛 More seriously; it's true that some specific players are quite capable of leveraging knockback to clump rather than disperse enemies. And the introduction of Combat Teleport (and the addition of Knockback Resistance to most AoE Immobilise powers) has somewhat lessened the negative impact of 'uncontrolled' teammate-induced Knockback. However a bad knockback player can still be a major PITA on a team; and mechanically speaking KnockDOWN provides almost as much mitigation as KnockBACK but without all the hate and vitriol. So I personally will almost always choose to convert KB>KD - as a courtesy to my teammates even if it doesn't make much difference to my own toon. And whilst I haven't personally ever booted anyone off a team I'm leading for using Knockback badly (even back in the old days), I have used several of them as "Vengeance Bait".

Short version: Yes; it's still hated by a large portion (if not the vast majority) of the playerbase. Longer version: And it's also apparently loved by an extremely passionate minority of the playerbase. (Some of them even believe they're "helping" - in much the same manner that a 2 year old with a tub of red paint might make surprise contributions to your home decor...) Even adding an option (via Null or a Special IO) to globally make KnockBACK into KnockDOWN keeps getting vetoed.